Slashdot Mirror


Internet Giving Homeless a Home

Wired is reporting that many individuals currently without permanent housing still manage to stay connected via a cellphone, laptop, or some other gadget. Many homeless have email addresses and find that it offers them a way to get their foot back in the door of 'normal' society. From the article: "Hellerich slept on benches but she frequented a women's shelter with a cluster of internet-connected computers used mostly by the children who arrived at the safe house with their mothers. She started blogging and conducting a business. As an independent internet marketer, she was able to maintain bank accounts, nurse existing client connections and forge new business relationships. The business brought in only about $100 a month, but that was enough to help get her life back on track."

9 of 261 comments (clear)

  1. Re:hmm by MrSquirrel · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Will spam for food"

    --
    A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.
  2. Re:hmm by Spad · · Score: 4, Funny

    Of course not, if she were a spammer she'd be making far more than $100/month

  3. Re:wait by numbski · · Score: 4, Funny

    no no no no no no......

    Build a man a fire, keep him warm for the night. Set a man on fire and keep him warm for the rest of his life. ;)

    --

    Karma: Chameleon (mostly due to the fact that you come and go).

  4. You, sir, must be a stinking Democ-rat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    As we all know, poor people are a huge problem in our great nation, therefore, they must be eliminated.

    Maybe you're even worse than a Democ-rat - you might even be a Euro-hippy. Stop polluting our minds with your socialist nonsense like science or worse, "Linux" - we all know the true history.

    Fortunately, I have an idea to solve these problems. I call it A Modest Proposal:

    What do we have an excess of in the USA? That's right - LIBERALS. These tend to be exactly the poor homeless people who can't afford to buy Operating Systems like Microsoft Genuine Advantage Windows, and must make do with the inferior communist alternatives. Remember, these are the people who actually OPPOSE the war on terror in Iraq, even after September 11 showed how evil Saddam Hussein was!

    Also, we import much of our oil from disgusting foreigners (like Venezualans, who we must liberate soon BTW). Why don't we grind up the liberal hobos who lower valuable property prices in our neighborhoods, and use the oil from their bodies to power up our SUVs?

    This way everyone wins.

    What do you think, slashdot.org?

    1. Re:You, sir, must be a stinking Democ-rat by Gryle · · Score: 5, Funny

      Why don't we grind up the liberal hobos who lower valuable property prices in our neighborhoods, and use the oil from their bodies to power up our SUVs?

      If we did gas would really cost an arm and a leg. *rimshot*

      --
      Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not entirely sure about the universe - Einstein
  5. Beowulf by cerberusss · · Score: 3, Funny
    ... a women's shelter with a cluster of internet-connected computers

    Oh NO, even the homeless have Beowulf clusters! Am I the ONLY ONE left on the planet who doesn't run a cluster??

    --
    8 of 13 people found this answer helpful. Did you?
  6. Re:really? by Samus · · Score: 4, Funny

    That's because they are afraid you'll talk back.

    --
    In Republican America phones tap you.
  7. Re:Homeless by ElephanTS · · Score: 3, Funny
    the mentally insane


    As opposed to the physically insane?

    BTW, I disagree with you. I often give homeless people money - some won't want handouts from a church.

    --
    spoonerize "magic trackpad"
  8. Re:hmm by JonTurner · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Cold. Hungry. Using Dialup.
    Please help."